Watchdog faults bureaucrats for HK$1m toilet no one uses

The Ombudsman has found a government department partly responsible for delays in resolving a row over a HK$960,000 public toilet that has been unused since it was built.

But it has exonerated another from blame over the ruckus surrounding the 105 sq ft structure on Ma Wan island, which has now been permanently closed.

The toilet was built in 2003 to serve two relocated villages that were displaced by construction of the Tsing Ma Bridge - the airport link that joined the once-isolated island to Tsing Yi - and the nearby Park Island private residential estate.

But villagers complained that it was too near their homes and would create smell and hygiene risks so it never opened.

In the row that followed, the watchdog said, the Tsuen Wan office of the Home Affairs Department had been remiss in doing nothing for two years after starting efforts to negotiate with the concerned parties in 2007.

And it had not addressed the issue again until a resident complained at the start of last year. The ombudsman said this was at odds with usual procedure.

The Ombudsman expressed concern at the department's lack of written records of talks it said it had with various parties, and the lack of any written consultation papers. Also, despite residents expressing concerns about the project, the department had not submitted the topic for discussion during Tsuen Wan District Council meetings.